By Phil McCausland -
NBC News
Businessman Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency company FTX, was accused Tuesday of illegally investing millions of dollars in political campaigns during the 2022 midterm elections, misappropriating funds from his investors. .
Bankman-Fried and his accomplices
“illegally donated tens of millions of dollars
” to both Democratic and Republican candidates and campaign committees, Damian Williams, US attorney for southern New York, said at a news conference.
The businessman faces a total of eight charges, one of which involves violation of political campaign finance laws.
The donations, Williams claimed, were "disguised" to appear to come from wealthy donors when, in fact, the contributions were funded by Bankman-Fried's private cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research, using money stolen from clients.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of FTX, is being held without bail in the Bahamas, where he was detained on Monday, December 12, 2022. Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“All of this dirty money
,” Williams added, was used to “buy bipartisan influence and influence political decisions that are made in Washington.”
Mark S. Cohen, an attorney for Bankman-Fried, said his client "is reviewing the charges with his legal team and considering all his legal options."
Bankman-Fried
spent at least $70 million on political campaigns
, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
And three sources told NBC News that the dark money she used to sway the goodwill of pro-crypto candidates was much more.
Federal law limits donations from an individual to a single candidate to $5,800: $2,900 for presidential elections and an equal amount for primaries.
Prosecutors alleged in Tuesday's indictment that Bankman-Fried misled the FEC by making "contributions to candidates for federal office, fundraising committees, and independent spending committees on behalf of other individuals" beginning in 2020 and was doing so. doing until last month.
"I had no intention of committing fraud": says the founder of the cryptocurrency company FTX
Dec 13, 202201:43
Bankman-Fried, 30, organized conferences in the Bahamas that were attended by former politicians Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, according to The Associated Press news agency, while building a reputation for himself as a good contributor to electoral campaigns, especially among Democrats, whom he publicly courted in recent years.
Bankman-Fried, once considered a financial whiz kid, also faces other charges.
Prosecutors allege he committed wire fraud against customers and lenders and masterminded money laundering conspiracies
.
[The enormous risks of the city for cryptocurrencies that Bukele seeks to create in El Salvador]
He allegedly masterminded a network of financial deceptions to buy himself and friends and family luxury condos and real estate, as well as donate millions to political campaigns.
He raised at least $1.8 billion for various types of shares in FTX, court documents show.
About $1.1 billion came from just 90 US investors.
Sam Bankman-Fried, Co-Founder of Cryptocurrency Firm FTX Arrested
Dec 13, 202200:26
Bankman was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after being indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York on Friday, Williams told reporters.
"This investigation is ongoing and moving very quickly," prosecutor Williams stated.
"Although this is our first public announcement, it will not be the last."
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